Where Can I Find Free Wi-Fi in Brisbane City?

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With my need to be constantly connected and my desire to take my recently purchased iPad out on a date, I decided to compile a list of wireless hotspots in downtown Brisbane that are free of charge. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Brisbane could do a lot better in terms of the amount of free wifi offered. After a recent holiday to numerous cities in the USA it become clear that Brisbane lags in the number of locations offering free wireless internet. However the good news is that free wireless is on the rise and if you know where to go in the first place staying connected becomes a lot easier.

If you are a visitor to the city and need to stay in touch, or if you're just like me and like to laze about with a coffee in one hand and device in other, below is a list of places offering free connectivity in Brisbane.

Wi-Fi in Parks and Public Spaces

An initiative the Brisbane City Council can be particularly proud of in my opinion is the decision to allow wireless access in 22 of the city's parks and public spaces giving people the ability to enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine while facebooking or emailing. Click here for the full list. In the CBD the best outdoor locations to log on are:

Some of the places that are best for browsing can often be comfortable coffee shops and cosy cafe's. Here are just a few of the places downtown where you can eat, drink and surf simultaneously. While many cafe's require log in access codes, others do not and appropriate Wi-Fi etiquette suggests that you should at least purchase something, and maybe something else later depending how long you want to log on.

1) Starbucks Coffee, Queens Plaza, Myer Centre and 324 Queen Street. Starbucks offers reliable and hassle-free Wi-Fi access across their three CBD with comfy chairs and tables to match. Tip: The location at 324 Queen St is often the best for relaxed browsing as the other two outlets form part of city's major shopping precincts and are often extremely busy.

3)Bleeding Heart Cafe166 Ann Street Located within a small heritage building offering both verandah dining and inside the cafe itself. Bleeding heart has eclectic vibe and could inspire some online creativity.

4) McDonald's Restaurants. Four city locations The good old golden arches provide free Wi-Fi throughout 148 stores in Queensland including their four CBD locations. The most useful for visitors or commuters to Brisbane are likely to be the outlets at Central Railway Station or Roma Street Transit Centre.

Word of warning my own experience with McDonalds Wi-Fi has proven to be slow and tedious at certain times with the network dropping out. Hopefully others have more luck.

As to be expected in Queensland's flagship library building, wireless internet here is effective and good range provided. There are also a number of public computers offering high speed broadband internet.

While not exactly in the CBD next time you are catching a train on the Brisbane City Rail network it might be worth checking to see if you can gain access on your laptop or smartphone. With the service to be implemented on all newer city trains by the end of 2012 in an Australian first, the morning or afternoon commute just became a lot less mind-numbingly boring.

As previously mentioned free Wi-Fi while modest in Brisbane is on the rise, you just need to know where to connect. If there are any other locations in and around the Brisbane CBD please let us know with a comment. Happy surfing!

Paddington Galleria 85 Latrobe Tce, Paddington Brisbane plus they have a loyalty card 70 points (7 coffees) next one is free. Like an old General store as well beautiful coffee and teas as well as cold drinks smoothies, frappes, milkshakes and SPIDERS yummy